My best Excel tip of 2024
For the second year running, I’m delighted to have participated in John Michaloudis‘ The Best Microsoft Excel Tips & Tricks in 2024.
This annual tradition is a roundup of tips and tricks from Microsoft MVPs and experts that will save you time and make you a more efficient Excel user.
My segment is found at 28:06–29:28, but I won’t say what it’s about — you’ll have to listen (or read the transcript).
There’s some cracking advice from everyone, though, so be sure to check out the rest as well.
Find it on:
MyExcelOnline
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Transcript
Hello, it’s Andrew Moss from the Global Excel Summit!
My top Excel tip of 2024 is to use Focus Cell.
If you regularly lose track of where you are in the worksheet grid, this is for you.
It is a long overdue feature that arrived recently, and it really does transform the user experience, especially when you’re faced with a big sprawling dataset that spans dozens of columns.
If you work on an ultra wide monitor like I do, you’ll probably know how frustrating it is to look at the far right of a worksheet when the row numbers are a metre away on the far left.
And the lower down you are, the worse it gets.
Focus Cell tackles this problem by highlighting the row and column that belongs to the active cell, letting you work more confidently, knowing you are inputting or editing something in the right place.
It’s easily found on the View tab.
Just click the main part of the Focus Cell button to toggle it on and off.
And if you want to change the colour of the highlighting, select the drop-down arrow, hover over Focus Cell Colour, and you’ll see a palette of 10 colours ranging from dark to light.
No longer do we have to rely on janky VBA methods or buggy third-party add-ins to do this.
I for one am very happy this feature has arrived.
Wherever you are, have an excellent 2025!
